AP-TX--Texas News Digest 12 am, TX

May. 14, 2018

Good morning! Here's a look at AP's general news coverage in Texas at this hour. Questions about coverage plans are welcome and should be directed to the Dallas AP at 972-991-2100, or, in Texas, 800-442-7189. Email: aptexas@ap.org. David Warren is on the desk at 6 a.m.

Reminder: This information is not for publication or broadcast, and these coverage plans are subject to change. Expected stories may not develop, or late-breaking and more newsworthy events may take precedence. Advisories and digests will keep you up to date. All times are Central.

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TOP STORIES:

CHURCH SHOOTING-HANDGUN PERMITS

SUTHERLAND SPRINGS, Texas — A massacre last year that left more than two dozen people killed at a South Texas church appears to have spurred a dramatic increase in the number of people in that county seeking licenses to carry a handgun. Records obtained by the San Antonio Express-News show 222 gun license applications were received in November in Wilson County following the Nov. 5 shootings at the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs. That's up 167 percent from November 2016 and the highest per capita increase among Texas counties with at least 10,000 residents. SENT: 250 words.

AROUND THE STATE & NATION:

EXCHANGE--DALLAS-TRANSGENDER COMMUNITY

DALLAS — Carter Brown stands before his family and begins to cry. Dressed all in white, the group seated in front of him seems to glow in the conference room's dim light. The Dallas Morning News reports their figures swim before his teary eyes. Brown breathes in the sweet odor of the burning incense, letting the low beat of the drums calm him. "Excuse me," he says, chuckling. "I have something in my eyes." Pinching the bridge of his nose, Brown takes a breath, smiles and convenes the 2018 Black Trans Advocacy Conference in Dallas with a hope and a prayer. He speaks freely, knowing he's safe being vulnerable here, among his people. By Lauren McCaughy, The Dallas Morning News. SENT: 1,260 words, with photos. Not for online use in the Dallas area.

EXCHANGE-WACO ZOO-SCULPTURE WALK

WACO, Texas — Private support from Waco donors has transformed a sculpture project marking the Cameron Park Zoo's 25th year into a major sculpture walk the Bible's Noah might appreciate. The Waco Tribune-Herald reports the Waco City Council recently gave the green light to an expanded Cameron Park Sculpture Zoo project that now numbers 27 outdoor sculptures, thanks in large part to $700,316 in private funding. The expanded plan now imagines animal sculptures not only around the approaches to the Waco zoo, but extending along University Parks Drive from Cameron Park to just outside the Vietnam Veterans Memorial at University Parks and Washington Avenue. By Carl Hoover, Waco Tribune-Herald. SENT: 1,050 words, with photo.

IN BRIEF:

—BALMORHEA POOL-DAMAGE — A 1930s-era West Texas swimming pool built by the federal Civilian Conservation Corps and touted as the world's largest spring-fed swimming pool is shut indefinitely because the concrete floor is damaged.

—POLICE CHASE-INJURIES — At least seven people were hospitalized as a driver fleeing from Houston police crashed into two vehicles.

—BORDER PATROL-AGENT SLAIN — A 34-year-old Mexican national is facing a possible death sentence as testimony begins this week in South Texas at his capital murder trial for the August 2014 slaying of an off-duty Border Patrol agent.

—WILDFIRES-TEXAS — Firefighters in the Texas Panhandle are working to contain a wildfire that's blackened more than 69,000 acres.

SPORTS REFER:

BBA--RANGERS-ASTROS

HOUSTON — Dallas Keuchel threw a gem Sunday — and he is only the Houston Astros' fourth-best starting pitcher. Keuchel allowed three hits in seven shutout innings, Evan Gattis and Carlos Correa homered for the second straight game and the Astros defeated the Texas Rangers 6-1. SENT: 740 words. AP Photos.

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